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Hans Holzbauer
General Information Hans Holzbauer was a Dundorfian politican, farmer and former Governor of Julstoch (LDP). He also held the positions of Parliamentary Group Leader, Party Speaker for Food and Agriculture as well as being the 2nd Vice Party President of the LDP. In Jean-Pierre Du Pont's coalition government from 3202 to 3204, he served as Minister for Food and Agriculture. Under the chancellorship of Vanessa Tallerand in 3227, he assumed this position again. Life Holzbauer was born into a poor, agricultural family living in the rural city of Volzhaus in the Bundesland of Julstoch of the Bundesrepublik Dundorf. After his parents had died, he had to manage the farm on his own. Through a lot of hard work and effort, he managed to acquire a modest fortune which he spent to modernize his farm. In 3181, he joined the Dundorfische Bauernfront, a far right political party that supported the interests of farmers. In 3184, he became the DBF's candidate for the office of Governor of Julstoch, however he lost to the candidate of the Kommunistische Partei, Reinhold Grubinger, albeit only by a small margin. After the DBF suffered a crushing defeat in the local elections of 3188, Holzbauer temporarily resigned from politics and became a farmer again. However, in 3190, he was persuaded by his old school friend Michelle Ehrenfeld to join the LDP. He was soon elected as Chairman of the LDP's Farmers Organization (LDFA)and became Parliamentary Group Leader and Spokesman for Food and Agriculture in 3196. In 3200, he resignd as the Chairman of the LDFA in order to concentrate on his future role as Minister for Food and Agricultrue in a new LDP-led government of Michelle Ehrenfeld. However, the LDP lost the Federal Elections in 3202, being unable to claim the position of Head of Government. When the LDP formed a government together with the Konservative Partei, he nevertheless became Minister of Food and Agriculture until the next election, when his party lost votes and seats and was forced to switch into the unknown role of an opposition party. During Holzbauer's time as minister, he abolished environmental restrictions such as the regulation of the use of pesticides in Agriculture, and opened agribusiness to the rules of the Free Market. He also stopped governmental subsidies to farms that couldn't survive on a commercial base. Confronted with criticism for these measures, Holzbauer responed: "Farmers don't need the welfare handouts the left wants to give to them. They need less regulation and less governmental interference in their work, making them competitive in our globalized world. They also need lower taxes to make sure they can keep the vast amount of their profit. This is the way the government should aim to support farmers, not through spending more and more tax dollars on inefficient welfare projects." After his tenure, Holzbauer served as Group Leader of the LDP in the Bundestag again, being known for polemical rhetorical attacks against his left-wing opponents. When the socialist RKP banned religion in Dundorf in 3207, Holzbauer threatened the government with a revolt of the rural, christian part of the population, among which he enjoys immense popularity. In a speech to a conservative group of LDP members in Volzhaus, he promised to pull the responsible cabinet members in court if the LDP won a majority again. However, he was criticized by moderate members of his party for this statement: Clarice von Eindhoven, the LDP's former Minister for foreign affairs, accused him of using 'hate speech against political opponents'. In 3208, he was elected Governor of Julstoch, which he considered the 'greatest political success of my life'. In 3210, he had to face a tough election rallye, as the regional left-wing coalition with their candidate Karl-Ludwig Ackermann gained support from small farmers who opposed the Free Market Reforms introduced during Holzbauer's term as Minister of Agriculture. In several polls, Holzbauer trailed Ackermann by 5 to 10 percentage points. However, the tide turned when he promised to cut taxes for small-size farms. In the end, he defeated Ackermann by a wide margin. According to several polls conducted in 3211, Holzbauer's popularity is immense throughout the rural parts of Dundorf, wheras he enjoys where little support in urban areas. He was easily re-elected as governor in 3212 and 3214, defeating three left-wing and two centrist opponents. In 3216, he surprisingly lost in the first round. He afterwards campaigned for centrist candidate Berthold Braukogel in the secound round, helping him to defeat leftist Gregor Geyer. He the returned to his position as MP in the Bundestag of Dundorf. During his tenure as Governor, he managed to keep economic growth in Julstoch on a high level (8%)and reduced inflation from 12% to 4.5%. However, the poverty rate rose from 8.79% to 11.89%. In 3227, he became Minister for Food and Agriculture again in the cabinet of Vanessa Tallerand. One of his major projects as minister was the attempt to liberalize the sale of food and alcohol. He also blocked the efforts of parts of the opposition to introduce environmentalist policies in the areas of agriculture and ecology. In 3230, the LDP-led government lost the elections and Holzbauer resigned from his position as minister. In the next elections, he won back a seat in the Bundestag for his constituency Lutzenkamp, and returned to the Parliament as an ordinary representative. With 81 years, he was thus among the oldest active MPs in Dundorf at this time. Due to his experience, Holzbauer is often invited to political discussions on TV or to asked to make a statement on controversial issues by the media. In 3133, he was awarded with the honorary citizenship of the city of Lutzenkamp, due to his merits to the city as its long-time representative. In the same year, he was honored with the Honorary Doctorate of the Agricultural Institute of Bergengruber, due to his achievements as Minister of Food and Agriculture. When the LDP dissolved in 3243, Holzbauer remained in the Parliament as an independent MP, however he lost his seat in the next elections. In 3246, at age 94, he ran for Governor of Julstoch again and won. However, his health became worse and so he had to resign only a few months later. After several hospital and spa stays from 3247 to 3251, he returned to politics again. He tried to take over the majority within the regional legislative chamber of Julstoch as candidate of the a far-right, clerical-fascist movement, but failed to do so as he missed the absolute majority, winning 41%. The movement collapsed in September 3251, so Holzbauer joined the centrist Zentrumspartei (Centre Party). He tried to drag it to the right, however the party's leadership rejected his attempts and excluded him from the party in December 3251. In early 3252, Holzbauer, now aged 99, continued to serve as politician as an independent representative in the municipal council of his hometown Volzhaus, and tried to become Mayor of the city. However, his views were considered too extreme by the other councillors, and he was pushed out of the council until May 3252. Still blessed with very good health for his high age, he ran for Mayor in the direct election held one month later, campaigning with a radical anti-abortion again. He even demanded capital punishment for women who conducted an abortion. This time, voters penalized his extremism, he only won 5% of the vote. Disappointed over the result, Holzbauer resigned from politics and bought a small farm on the surrounding fields of Volzhaus, which he managed himself. In December 3252, he teamed up with other farmers and founded the "Landwehr" ("Rural Resistance"), a radical paramilitary which aimed to topple the socialist government. The group was smashed by the police quickly and Holzbauer was sent to prison, but was released in January 3253 due to his high age. He then wrote an autobiography because he was out of money, but it did not sell well. In February, he moved back to his farm, where he lived together with his wife Helga Holzbauer. In May 3253, he spoke out against democracy, seeing that the socialist parties had won all elections ever since the LDP collapsed. He instead fantasized about a clerical dictatorship. On July 8, 3253, one day before his 101st birthday, he died in a car accident near Volzhaus. He was buried on his farm, the funeral being attended by many high representatives of the church. Political Views Holzbauer was one of the most conservative represantatives of the LDP. In 3191 he stated that he considered abortion a 'crucial crime that can be compared to murder'. He strongly opposed secularism and supports a tight connection between state and church. 'Christian values should always be the foundation of our policies', he said in a speech to the LDFA. He vehemently defends Free Market polcies in Agriculture and is in favor of the conservation of cultural heritage by giving monetary grants to private organizations. He wasalso a strong supporter of tough security policies and restrictive immigration laws. He opposes social benefits for illegal immigrants and wanted to deport them back to their home countries. Holzbauer was a member of the LDP's Pro-Life-Coalition and regularly donates money to religious anti-abortion-organizations. He was also one of the very few protagonists of his party to oppose forest clearance and endorse moderate pollution standards for industries, however he opposed any environmental restrictions on agribusiness. He was also a vehement supporter of the cultivation of GM crops and firmly opposed all attempts to regulate or even ban them. Holzbauer frequently stated that he abhors socialism and communism, as well as any form of collectivism: "Socialism and freedom are completely incompatible. In fact, they contradict each other in every single aspect", he said during an LDP election rallye in Dunburg in 3196. Category:Dundorfian peopleCategory:Dundorfian politicians